Force of Nature
by YourRoyalC-RokHighness
Summary: When the team is forced to take a vacation, Abby has other plans. Meanwhile, Tony and Ziva are forced to reveal the nature of their true feelings while on a camping trip. Your Royal Highness and C-Rokkk co-authorship. TIVA!
1. Trip

It wasn't entirely abnormal for Special Agent Tony DiNozzo to be late.

Just as he was today.

But today, he was really _really _late.

McGee strolled into the bullpen, a new cup of coffee in his hand, smiling at Ziva, who smiled back and slightly nodded her head, and then looked at Tony's desk. He stopped in the middle, turning to Ziva, "Where's Tony?"

She sighed and glanced down at her watch before looking back up at him, "He is late." She commented, "But for Tony, he is really late."

"Three hours, Ziva?"

She shrugged, raising and dropping her shoulders, "How should I know where he is?" She demanded, "It was not my turn to watch him."

"Wasn't mine either, I was just questioning where he was. If Gibbs finds out he's late..."

"Oh he knows." Ziva scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Gibbs hasn't even walked into the bullpen today, how could he possibly know?"

"I would listen to Ziver, McGee." Gibbs commented as he strolled into the bullpen, sipping his coffee, "Now instead of asking questions, why don't you figure out where the hell DiNozzo is?"

"Right." McGee scurried to his desk, "I'll start running his cell now." He looked up to his boss before realizing that he was already gone from the bullpen. He sighed and looked over at Ziva, "Tony needs to hurry up and get to work." He noticed the slight nervousness that passed through her eyes as she tapped the desk with her pen, her eyes darting back and forth. Over the years, McGee had been able to pick up on the Israeli's tendencies. He knew the small things she did when she was nervous, but he knew two things:

He definitely didn't know as much as Tony knew about her, that was for sure.

And he also didn't know how to 'read' her when Tony was involved.

He watched her glance over her shoulder at the elevator doors and then back at Tony's desk before standing up abruptly, startling McGee. She snatched something off of her desk as she locked eyes with Tim, "I will be back." She nodded, pausing a moment before leaving him alone.

* * *

McGee didn't think that he'd ever seen Tony run so fast in his entire life.

The elevator doors opened and Special Agent DiNozzo came zooming out of the lift, his backpack bouncing on his back as he took long, fast strides to his desk.

He threw his backpack down behind his desk and then plopped down in his chair, lifting his hands up, "Touchdown!" He breathlessly said as he let his hands drop onto his desk.

McGee furrowed his eyebrows together, "Where have you been?"

"None of your business, McNosy."

He opened up a file folder on his desk and ran a hand through his hair, "Rough night?" McGee tried again as he watched Tony check his reflection in the computer monitor before booting up his computer.

He started fixing his hair and sighed, "McGoo." He firmly said, giving himself a wink of approval in the reflection before turning around to look at Tim who just raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to respond, "I was late. That's all." He scoffed, "Like this is a phenomenon?"

"Actually, yes." Ziva responded as she walked into the bullpen, snapping her cell shut and shoving it into her pocket, "Lately you have been showing up before Gibbs or myself arrive."

"This is true." McGee nodded as Tony watched his partner sit down.

"Gibbs did seem rather upset at you, Tony." Ziva commented, "I would...try...not to get on his bad side. Even though that might be slightly difficult for you." She smiled and Tony gave her a sarcastic laugh.

"Sure...Zee-vah."

She attempted to look busy on her computer, typing random buttons, hoping that none of them would beep at her, "So why exactly are you almost four hours late?" She questioned.

He sighed and locked eyes with her, causing Ziva to raise an eyebrow. McGee watched them, and Tony stood up, running a hand through his hair as he started out of the bullpen. Ziva furrowed her eyebrows together as she watched him walk behind the staircase, their eyes catching one more time as Ziva recognized the emotions that were being cast in his eyes. She stood quickly, her eyes never leaving Tony's as she spoke to McGee, "I will be right back."

She followed Tony to his position behind the staircase, where he was leaning up against the wall, "What is wrong?" she softly questioned him, stopping in front of him.

"It's...embarrassing." He admitted and Ziva had to resist the urge to smile.

Her partner was embarrassed.

She couldn't even _think _about what had happened that could make him...embarrassed.

"What?" She questioned once again, trying to search his eyes.

"Okay, I woke up late last night. Had a couple of beers while watching a James Bond movie and then passed out on the couch halfway through."

She laughed, "You fell asleep during _James Bond?" _She questioned, "_You?" _

He narrowed his eyes at her, "With Sean Connery playing Bond, yeah."

She just covered her mouth as she laughed, but then stopped as she noticed his look, "Sorry." She cleared her throat as she stood up straight, composing herself, "You fell asleep after a couple of beers." She nodded, "Continue."

"Yeah." He sighed, "So I wasn't in my bedroom, so the alarm didn't go off. Well, actually, it did, but I didn't hear it since it was in my bedroom. Ended up waking up about oh..." He glanced down at his watch, "Two hours ago."

"If that was two hours ago..." She furrowed her eyebrows together, "Then why are you _four _late?"

"Well if you would let me finish, I'd tell you."

She nodded, putting a hand up, "Understood." She dropped it, "Continue."

He sighed and ran another hand through his hair. Ziva felt a pang of sadness in her heart for the man in front of her. He really _was _embarrassed, "So I was running late, I knew that Gibbs was gonna have my head on a silver platter with his morning coffee, or afternoon at this point, by the time I showed up at work, so I..." he smiled as he looked at her and she couldn't help but smile back at him, "...drove like you." he chuckled.

She rolled her eyes, "And?"

"I sped."

"How much?"

"Uh...fifteen over the speed limit?" Ziva let her mouth drop open, "Hey! You speed all the time!"

"But that is expected." She smiled, "And you criticized my driving."

"Anyways, got pulled over by a cop." He rolled his eyes, "Dumbest cop I've ever met in my life. But also the worst. He gave me a ticket."

She rolled her eyes, "Welcome to my world." She muttered under her breath.

"No, but even when I explained to him I'm a federal agent..."

"Say you are an trained assassin for the government next time. That works for me." She gave him a dashing smile and he just gulped.

"Yeah..." it was his turn to clear his throat, "So that took about thirty minutes...the guy couldn't figure out anything, I promise you."

She nodded, "I believe you."

"So I sped...again...to get to work...and...kinda got into an accident." A flash of concern flashed through Ziva's eyes as the smile faded from her face, completely dropping in seconds as she felt herself reach for his arm.

"Are you okay?" She questioned, no, more like demanded.

He looked down at her hand and she quickly dropped it, backing up a couple of steps, trying to keep the heat out of her cheeks as he rubbed his shoulder, "I rear-ended an old lady. She whacked me with her umbrella."

She had to resist the urge to laugh; she just went with a small, closed smile, "Here, let me see." She said, carefully lifting up and shrugging his jacket off of his shoulders, pulling at his tie until it was loose around his neck. He stared at her as she patted the tie down so that it was flat.

As she started on the top buttons, so that she could move the shirt out of the way to see his right shoulder, Tony smirked, "You like undressing me, Ziva?" He questioned.

She smiled as she looked up at him, "Not here." She seductively said as she started undoing more buttons.

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? So if we were...say...at my apartment...alone..."

She smiled, "Maybe."

"You two mind doing that somewhere else?" They both heard a voice say as Ziva quickly let go of her partner, backing up as she looked up at the stairs.

Gibbs walked down them, slowly, his eyes fixed on the two, or so Ziva thought. As she moved away, she realized that his gaze was on Tony, who was pulling his jacket back on, "You better have a damn good reason as to why you're late, DiNozzo."

"Uh..." He started.

"He does." Ziva nodded, "Gibbs. He does."

Gibbs stared at her and then looked back at Tony, beckoning him towards him with one finger. Tony walked towards him, stopping as he looked up at him, through the stairs. Gibbs bent down so that he was level with him before reaching through the bars and slapping him on the back of the head.

Tony winced as Ziva smirked, "Get back to work." He simply said before starting back down the steps and into the bullpen.

The work day was slow, filled with cold case reports that seemed to last forever.

Tony looked up from his desk at his partner, "Hey, Ziva?" he questioned and she snapped out of her trance, trying to concentrate on the file folder in front of her and not the extremely good looking man in front of her.

"Yes, Tony?"

"You..uh...think you could give me a ride home today?"

She paused, as if she was thinking, even though she wasn't, and then nodded, "Yes."

"Great." He smiled, "Thanks. You see that, McGee?" he questioned, and Tim looked up from his computer, "That's what's called being a _good _partner and giving them rides home from work."

"You never asked me!" McGee defended and Tony grinned at Ziva.

"He's right." He said in a stage whisper, "I didn't."

She just rolled her eyes as she turned back to her file folder.

"Agent DiNozzo." Vance's voice called and Ziva registered the fear that flickered through his face as he looked up at her, "With me."

"What did I do?" He muttered.

"I can answer that question." McGee smiled and Tony narrowed his eyes at him, causing Tim to drop his smile completely, "Right. Sorry."

"You too, Agent McGee, Officer David. And make sure you get Agent Gibbs and Ms. Sciuto up here as well."

The three shared looks with each other as they started slowly out of the bullpen, all of them confused. Tony broke the silence as he shoved his hands into his pockets, grinning at Ziva, "So...who'd you kill this time?"

"Uh...are you gonna just stand there or talk?" Tony questioned, "Cause I mean, I wanna go." He shifted again in his seat.

Vance crossed his arms, "You got anything better to do, Agent DiNozzo?" He demanded.

"Just paperwork." He admitted, "Which I really don't wanna do. But it sure beats hanging out in here."

Ziva sighed and shared a look with Gibbs, for all of them sat around the table in the Director's office; it was McGee, then Abby, then Gibbs, then Tony, and then Ziva.

"It has come to my attention that you all have a...nearly impossible...amount of vacation time that's accumulated." Vance finally spoke after several more seconds of silence, "It seems that you never take time off. Do you _want _to come to work?" He questioned, pointing it at Tony.

Tony grinned, "Not really, but-" He noticed Gibbs' stare, "I could not think of anything else I would rather do than come to work."

He forgot to mention that Ziva was part of that factor.

He could stare at her all day, well except for when she demanded what he was doing and what he had up his sleeve.

He'd catch her staring at him as well, but he let it slid...sometimes.

Oh, and another reason he showed up at work?

He didn't feel like getting his ass beaten.

Like he was going to today, he knew he was.

Four hours was late...even for him.

Even though he had a good reason as to why he was late.

"Your point being? Le-on?" Gibbs questioned, stretching his name out as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms at him, "My team wants to come to work. What's wrong with that?" He demanded.

He sighed, "You and your team need a vacation."

"Vacation?" Tony's face lit up.

"Yes, you need to use up some of your vacation time or else I'm going to have to suspend you all. SecNav's new rules."

Gibbs groaned and Tony just continued to grin like a boy in the candy store, "Vacation?"

"Yes! Tony!" Ziva nearly shouted, "A vacation!"

He paused and looked at Vance, "Where?"

"I don't give a damn. It could be to the Chuck-E-Cheese down the street, just get the hell out of this office for at least five days."

"I say we go to a beach." Tony grinned, "Sun...sand...babes..." He gave a side glance at his partner, "In bikinis..."

Vance ignored him, "You have until tomorrow morning to give me the location of your vacation destination."

Tony leaned over to Ziva and whispered in her ear, his lips brushing up against her face as he spoke, "That rhymed."

Vance, again, ignored him, "I don't care where it is...but you need to be out of this office..." Ziva opened her mouth to say something when Vance interrupted her, "And out of this office does not mean that you are allowed to do field work, Officer David."

She clamped her mouth shut and gave Gibbs a helpless look.

"Yay!" Abby suddenly shouted, clapping her hands together, "This is going to be _so _exciting, everyone!" She smiled and Vance couldn't help but smile back. Maybe Abby would keep them in their destination.

"You have until tomorrow morning to give me your vacation spot, or I will suspend you all for exactly the amount of vacation time you have saved up." He saw a look of complete dread flash across all of their faces before speaking again, "You are dismissed."

All of them stood slowly, filing out in a single line, Gibbs being the line leader and Ziva taking up the back.

As soon as they were out of the door, Ziva grabbed onto Tony's arm, "Yeah?" He questioned as he turned towards her.

She smiled, "I just realized...you can never make fun of my driving again." She grinned as he rolled his eyes before putting a fake smile on his face. She smacked him lightly on the cheek, "Remember who is driving you home tonight." She called over her shoulder as Tony stayed rooted in the same place.

He ran a hand through his hair and turned around, watching her descend the steps.

_Damn it._

The day was way too slow for Ziva's liking. She sat at her desk, working on paperwork, wishing 1700h would roll around so she could get out of there.

That is, after she took Tony home.

She smiled at the thought, realizing again just how embarrassed he was to tell her about what happened. She sighed, looked down at the clock on her computer again, and rolled her eyes at the result.

1604h.

The squad room was dead silent, the only sounds were the occasional printer printing pages. The three federal agents jumped when McGee spoke again, "So, boss," He started, "What uh...are you gonna do for your vacation time?"

Gibbs didn't even have to think about it, and didn't look up when he spoke, "Work on my boat." He replied.

McGee nodded slowly, as if he was expecting that answer, and then turned to the senior field agent who was sitting at his desk, one arm propping his head up, "What about you, Tony?"

Tony raised and dropped one shoulder, "Don't know." He sighed, "Probably have a James Bond movie marathon or something."

McGee raised an eyebrow, "You're gonna do that for five days?"

"Yeah, problem with that, Probie?"

"No, no. No problem." McGee replied, "Whatever floats your boat."

"Maple works great." Gibbs clued in as McGee continued.

"What about you, Ziva?" He asked, causing the Israeli to snap out of the trance she was in.

"I do not know." Ziva admitted.

"Yeah, me either." Tim replied, and Tony laughed loudly, standing and walking over to him.

"I know what you're gonna do, McGemcity. You're gonna sit in that chair, smoking that pipe, and working on your arthritis typing on the typewriter."

"I was actually thinking of going to the..."

"Comic book convention?" Tony interrupted.

"...beach."

Tony laughed again, but this time it was louder, "That's a good idea, Probie, you'll have the whole place to yourself. All that white will scare everyone away."

"DiNozzo." Gibbs said, and Tony turned to the boss, "Paperwork."

Tony sighed, "Right." As he returned to his desk, Tony glanced at his partner before sitting down at his desk, and Ziva smiled again. She smiled a lot these days, particularly when Tony even looked in her direction. And today was even worse, only because he wasn't wearing one of those suits that he usually wore, but jeans that fit him way too perfectly, and a dark brown shirt that looked amazing on him. It was then she realized that she was staring _again_, and she quickly started writing on the paper in front of her, pretending to work.

Ziva spent the next 30 minutes thinking about that brown shirt.

But instead of being on Tony, it was on the floor.

Next to the bed.

"Go home." Gibbs announced as he blew through the squad room. Ziva watched as he passed and then quickly stood, adding her weapon to her side and her backpack to her shoulder, leaving the bullpen at the same time as her partners. Gibbs pressed the button at the elevator as his three agents lined up behind him.

"Waittttt!" Abby yelled, her platforms thudding as she ran towards the MCRT.

"Yeah, Abs?" Gibbs asked as the elevator doors slid open.

"We haven't discussed where we're going!" She said loudly.

"Where we're going?" Tony repeated.

"Yes! On vacation!"

"_We're_?" Tim said.

"Yes!" Abby said again. "We need to meet somewhere."

"Abby I don't-"

"McGee, go and get us some beer. Tony, order pizza and we'll all meet at your apartment in an hour. Capiche?" Before they had a chance to argue, Abby got into the waiting elevator and the doors closed in front of her. McGee looked at Gibbs, Gibbs looked at Tony, and Tony looked at Ziva. Shaking his head, Gibbs pressed the button for the elevator again.

This vacation suddenly seemed longer.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The tires squealed as Ziva came to a stop in front of Tony's apartment. Tony was holding onto the seat, the door, the dashboard, _anything_ as Ziva drove. He let out a huge sigh of relief when Ziva turned the car off, "You're insane." He said.

Ziva looked at him with her eyes and pulled out her knife as she sat back in her seat, cleaning her nails with it. "I may be insane, but you are the one who got in a wreck, yes?"

Tony scoffed, "Like _you_ have never been in a wreck."

She raised and dropped one shoulder, "Once." Tony stared. "Or twice." He didn't move, "Ok three times."

"Three times." Tony laughed, "You've wrecked three times? Compared to my one?" Deciding that the car was in park, and because it was turned off, it was safe to take off his seatbelt. "I think I win that argument, Dah-Veed."

Ziva scoffed, "Whatever." She said and put her knife away, so that she wouldn't use it on her partner. Tony got out of the car and Ziva cranked it up again, but stopped when he leaned into the open window.

"Where do you think you're going?"

She stared at him as if it was a stupid question, "Home." She replied.

"Oh no." Tony said, and then reached into her car and shut it off again, "You heard Abby. Gotta decide where we're going."

"You are not serious."

Tony looked around, "Abby was very serious."

She crossed her arms under her chest and sat back in her seat, staring at her partner. "Do you actually think that Gibbs is going to come here just because Abby asked him to?"

"More like demanded, actually." Tony corrected, and reached further into the car, grabbing Ziva's shirt, pulling on it slightly, "Come on Zi."

As he walked away from her mini, Ziva cranked up her car again. But, as she watched Tony walk, something made her change her mind.

She didn't know if it was because he looked absolutely gorgeous in the outfit he'd chosen today, or if it was because she actually _wanted_ to go into his apartment and spend time, alone, with him.

And she honestly didn't care.

She opened the door and jogged for a few steps to catch up with him. "Ah, nice of you to join me." He said, and Ziva rolled her eyes as she got onto the elevator with him.

"The only reason I am doing this is for the free pizza and beer." She returned.

Tony laughed as the elevator dinged, the doors opening as he started to walk to his apartment, when he suddenly was being rushed back into the elevator, because his neighbor's wife was having a baby. Tony knew the family of misfits, and he really didn't care for them much. Jamie Brooks, the father-to-be, was a carpenter that rarely worked, resulting in shouting matches with his wife, Katie, that Tony usually had to listen to. Then there was Jamie's nephew, Bryce, a ladies man who's headboard, unfortunately, shared a wall with Tony's room. Two other people joined Jamie and Bryce in the elevator, these people were older, Tony guessed that they were Jamie's parents.

During the rush into the elevator by the Brooks family, Tony was pushed onto Ziva, and had to hold her and himself up to prevent from falling. He peeled himself from Ziva, who was shoved up against the wall. After glaring at his neighbors, he turned his attention back to Ziva, and without letting her go, he spoke, "You okay?"

Ziva wanted him to keep holding her the way he was. His strong arms held up her body, his hands locked behind her back. She swallowed the lump that was in her throat and spoke just as softly as he did, "I am fine." She replied. His scent was intoxicating, and Ziva wanted so badly to close the gap that currently existed between their lips. But unfortunately for Ziva (and for Tony), he let her go and turned to Bryce, who was eyeing his partner up and down.

"Hey, sorry about that. My Uncle is a little excited." Bryce said, a smile plastered on his face.

"Noticed." Tony interrupted.

"I'm Bryce." He held his hand out to Ziva, who glanced at Tony before placing her hand in his.

"Ziva." She said softly as Bryce brought her hand up to his lips.

"Zivaaaa." Bryce repeated. And, at that moment, is when Tony had enough. He quickly wrapped his arm around Ziva's waist, a gesture that sent chills up and down the Israeli's body.

"You remember me, don't you, Brycey boy?"

The elevator doors slid open and Jamie and the two older people left, leaving Bryce in the elevator with Tony and Ziva. "Yeah. Aren't you the guy that's banging on the wall while I'm..."

"Yeah, that's me." Tony replied, "And _Ziva_ is my girlfriend. All mine." Ziva glanced up at her partner, and had to bite her bottom lip so that she wouldn't smile, "So don't get any funny ideas." As the words left Tony's mouth, Ziva couldn't believe her ears.

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo had just called her, Ziva David, his _girlfriend_.

Even if he did it only because he wanted to make another guy jealous.

But _why_ would he want to make Bryce jealous?

She was snapped back into reality when she felt Tony's _hand_ on her skin, under her shirt, just above her jeans. His thumb was subconsciously rubbing back and fourth, and she literally thought she was going to lose it.

Bryce grinned, "Already have." He replied, taking the time to look at Ziva's body again before exiting the elevator.

"Move the bed away from the wall!" Tony yelled as the doors closed again.

"Why did you do that, Tony?" Tony only realized that his arm was _still_ around Ziva's waist when she spoke. He quickly removed it, and it was displeasing for him, as well for Ziva.

"The guy is a bastard, Zi. Need to make sure that he stays away from you."

Ziva stared at him as they arrived on Tony's floor, both of them walking quickly towards the door to his apartment, "I can take care of myself, DiNozzo." She said softly.

He smiled as he unlocked the door, holding it open for her as she walked past, "I know." He walked in behind her and threw his keys on the table, followed by his weapon and badge, his NCIS backpack was now thrown carelessly on the floor. He took his cell phone off of his belt and used one of his speed dials to call his frequent pizza place, who then told him it would be there in 20 minutes. "Beer?" He asked and Ziva nodded as he grabbed two out of the fridge and walked over to her, opening hers before handing it to her.

"Thank you." She said softly.

"Yep."

There was an awkward silence for a while until Tony spoke, "So what do you wanna do while we wait on the rest?"

As he walked to the couch, her eyes followed him, and she bit her bottom lip at the current thought that ran through her head, and she almost blushed, "If they come." She sat on the couch beside him, taking another sip of her beer.

Her mind consumed her from that point, thinking nothing but of thoughts of her and Tony, and, she was having her way with him in each of them. She made herself come back to reality when there was a knock at the door. Tony walked to the door and in walked Abby, McGee with Beer, and Gibbs who already looked bored.

Ziva couldn't help but look surprised as her team joined her in Tony's living room as Tony paid the pizza guy. "Pizza!" He said happily and sat it down, immediately opening the square box and helping himself.

After small conversations and and several slices of pizza each, Abby stood and spoke loudly, as if she was in a crowded room and needed to get everyone's attention. "Ok! So we're officially on vacation." The other four stared at her, waiting on her to continue, "...and that means we should go somewhere! Fun!"

"I'd rather stay here and build my boat." Gibbs said, the only words that came out of his mouth since he'd walked into Tony's apartment.

"Abs, this was nice and all but I really don't have the...money." Tim said softly.

"Aw guys, now come on. It's been a long time since I've had a vacation, and I want to take my vacation with my family and you all are my family!"

Gibbs sighed, "Fine. Where we going?" He said, causing Abby to run over to him, throwing her arms around him.

"We could...go to the beach?" Tony suggested, and then had to erase the mental image of Ziva in that bikini again.

"Tony, it's October. The water would be freezing." Ziva said.

Tony laughed, "Wouldn't be the only thing that would be freezing." Gibbs, who was to his left, raised his right hand and slapped the federal agent on the back of his head.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, DiNozzo." Gibbs said softly.

Tony took a breath, "So the beach is out."

An awkward silence fell over the room again until Abby jumped up with excitement, "I got it!"

Jethro stared at the forensic scientist, "Yeah?"

"Camping!"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It took much convincing for Abby to get them to all agree on camping, Tony especially, because he didn't 'do' nature. Gibbs, McGee, and Abby left Tony's apartment, and Ziva stayed behind to help him clean up from the little gathering they'd just had. He walked back into the living room, where she was picking up beer cans and bottles, spread around the coffee table. "You don't have to do that, Zi."

Ziva glanced at him, oh how she loved it when he called her 'Zi', "I am here to help."

"Good. Then you can help me think of a way to get out of this...'fun in the woods'."

Ziva chuckled, "It could be fun, Tony." She returned. Walking into the kitchen, she threw the bottles in the trash as he walked in with the pizza boxes, placing them on top. "I better get home and pack." She said, walking towards the door.

"Pack what? It's the woods." Tony said.

"Well we cannot go around nude all day, Tony."

Tony laughed, "I'm gonna keep my comment to myself."

Ziva shook her head, "I will see you tomorrow." She said, and with that, she closed the apartment door behind her.

Tony stared at his door for a few seconds.

He didn't understand _why_ he wanted her to stay, or why his arm fit perfectly around her waist, or why during Abby's little gathering, the only thing he thought about was getting to spend time with Ziva.

"Stop it, Anthony." He said aloud, shaking his head in disbelief as he walked into his bedroom.

Ziva walked into her apartment and straight into her bedroom, pulling her straightened hair into a bun and out of her way. She changed, quickly, into a tank top and a pair of sweatpants, and pulled out her suitcase to begin the packing process. She'd gone camping before, but it was always on Mossad missions, never for 'fun', as Abby called it. She let out a sigh and began to place clothes in the simple black suitcase, her thoughts once again solely on Tony.

The cell phone buzzing on her dresser, next to her SIG and badge, scared her back into reality. She walked over to it and flipped it open, "David."

"_Ziva! Good! Get back over here. I need your help._" Tony said desperately into the phone.

Ziva sighed and crossed her arms under her chest, "Help you with _what,_ DiNozzo?"

_"Packing! I have no idea what you take to the woods. Pleasepleaseplease, Ziva, I need you!" _Ziva was about to open her mouth to reply when there was a knock on her door.

"Tony whatever you pack will be fine. I have to go, I have company."

Back at his apartment, Tony stared at his phone for a few seconds before closing it. He looked down at his watch, 2134h.

What kind of _company_ would she have at this hour?

Ziva walked to her door, Tony's words from the phone call echoing in her head, _'Ziva, I need you!' _Slowly, she turned the handle and opened her door, revealing a person she'd never thought she'd see again.

Grady Jones.

He was the 6'2, black hair, blue eye'd man that Ziva had gone on several dates with about three years ago. He was a nice guy, and Ziva actually enjoyed spending time with him, but he went back to his girlfriend after she moved back to DC. Ziva wasn't terribly heartbroken, but it did result in a few snappy days at the office, and it didn't go unnoticed by her team.

"Hey Ziva." He said softly, a smile on his face.

"Hello Grady." She returned.

"Uh, can I come in?" He asked. Ziva only nodded as she moved out of the way and let him walk in, closing the door and following him to the couch. "You look great." He said, "You are the sexiest when you're in sweatpants."

"You look good as well." She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, "How is...Jennifer, was it?"

Grady shook his head, "It didn't work out, Ziva." He said.

Ziva looked down at her hands that were wringing together, "I am sorry."

He sighed, "I'm just gonna come out and say it."

"Say what?" Ziva replied.

He looked right into her eyes, "I've missed you. I really enjoyed our dates and evenings."

"I enjoyed them too." Ziva replied, "But that is in the past." He was moving closer to her by the second, his face inches from hers. He reached and grabbed on of her hands, holding it tightly.

"Does it have to be?" He questioned.

Ziva shook her head, "No." She whispered. He put his hand on her neck and slowly closed the gap that existed between their lips. The kiss heated up quickly, and Ziva leaned back so that she was now horizontal on the couch. His lips never left hers as he pulled the hair bow out of her hair, allowing her long brown locks to fall onto her shoulders. He tangled his hands in her hair, and Ziva let out a small moan.

She liked him, she really did, but she couldn't get her mind off of Tony. She closed his eyes as Grady traveled kisses down her neck, remembering Tony's lips on hers that time when they were undercover several years ago. The way his large hands moved down her body, causing chill bumps to form on her skin. She used both of her hands to push Grady off of her, moving from under him quickly. She sighed and pulled her tank-top and bra straps back to her shoulders.

He sat up and intertwined his fingers, leaning on his knees with his elbows, "There's someone else, isn't there?"

They both looked at Ziva's phone as it began to buzz on the coffee table. Ziva sighed, "Yes, there is." She admitted quietly. Grady smiled, stood, and walked over to her, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"Take care, Ziva."

She watched him leave and smiled to herself, hurrying over to her phone before it went to voicemail. "David."

Not being able to help it, she smiled when she heard his voice again, _"Ziva, I-_"

She groaned into the phone, "I will be over soon, Tony." She hung up again and walked into her bedroom, zipping up her suitcase. Along with her keys and phone, she walked out of her apartment and down to her mini.

As she drove, her mind raced.

_What_ was wrong with her?

Chuckling, she shook her head.

She honestly didn't know.

Once she got to Tony's apartment, she double parked outside of the complex and then jogged up the stairs, deciding not to take the elevator this time. She paused in front of his door, she didn't honestly know why, and rapped lightly with her knuckles.

She wasn't even done knocking before the door opened quickly, revealing Tony to her eyes. He had changed into a pair of black sweatpants and a simple red t-shirt with a gray hoodie over it. She smiled at him, "Shalom."

"Good, come in." He graciously stepped aside for her, and she walked in, "You want another beer?" He offered and she put a hand up, shaking her head.

"I have already drank two tonight, Tony. I still need to drive home."

He shrugged his shoulders, "Suit yourself. And speaking of suits..." he drawled out, "Uh..." He rocked backwards and forwards on his feet, "You mind helping me?"

She nodded, "Let me get some water first."

"You know where it is." he gestured to the kitchen and he moved out of the way, to let her pass, "I'll be in the bedroom." He called over his shoulder and she just nodded. He stood there for several extra seconds, watching her backside through her form-fitting black sweatpants that matched the ones he was wearing now. He looked down at his attire before moving towards the bedroom, snapping himself out of his trance.

Tony stared at the suitcase that sat on his bed, every single one of his drawers pulled out, the clothes spilling out over the tops. He sighed as he felt her presence behind him, sipping out of a plastic Ohio State cup. She chuckled lightly at the sight of the clothes everywhere, "I have not seen a room this messy since..." She paused and thought, "...oh yes..." she remembered, "Tali and I...we got into a...war. But a 'nice' one." She smiled and Tony noticed the flicker of hurt that ran across her chocolate brown eyes.

"I'll clean it up later. Once we're done." Tony quickly said, hoping to 'calm' her. He started towards the bed, grabbing random articles of clothing and shoving them in.

Ziva rolled her eyes and set down the cup onto his dresser before moving over to help him. She pulled out whatever it was he had shoved into the suitcase, "First of all...you must _fold _them, Tony." She smoothed out the wrinkles in the shirt and folding it neatly, "Besides, you would not bring a dress shirt to the woods." She rolled her eyes once again.

"Well sorry..." He sarcastically said, "I didn't know that."

She just stared at him, "It is cold." She commented, "You will need sweatshirts and jeans, probably. And a couple of t-shirts." She moved past him, her shoulder brushing up against his chest. His breath hitched in his throat at the simple graze, watching her as she picked out a couple of shirts from one of the open drawers. She started back towards him a couple of minutes later, about five shirts thrown over her arm, "I am going to assume that you are going to wear these." She folded them and put them in his suitcase. She chuckled slightly, "I do not understand why you are so worried what bears think of your wardrobe."

She felt his eyes grow wide and bulge from their sockets as he grabbed her arm, turning her towards him, "There are bears?" He said, slowly, trying desperately to keep the fear out of his voice.

She smirked, "Just me." She watched as he rolled his eyes.

"In bed, right?"

"Actually..." She placed another piece of clothing into his suitcase before turning towards him, invading his personal space as she looked up and down his body, staring him in the eyes, "I am more of a..." She placed a hand on the bed and leaned closer to him; he didn't move, "...panther." She whispered, smiling as she did so.

Tony gave her a small, growing grin as he felt his pants tighten at the thought, "Right..." He was thankful he was wearing sweats, "So...what else do I need?" _Besides you. _

She didn't move from her position as she looked at the suitcase, "Well you need some boxers, that is for sure. You need some jeans, something to wear to bed-"

"I wear nothing." He interrupted and she sighed as she continued.

"You will need a sweatshirt or something to keep warm...there will probably be..." She went on as Tony got lost in her, taking her in. He inhaled deeply, wanting to reminisce in her scent before he stopped. He furrowed his eyebrows together and sniffed again as she continued to talk.

She didn't smell like she normally did, which was one of the following, depending on the season, month, or how she was feeling: rose, lavender, honeysuckle, or a fresh citrus. Normally for the summer, she wore a fresh citrus. In the spring, she wore a rose scent. In the fall it was honeysuckle, and in the winter it was lavender.

Not that he memorized that or anything.

Not that he paid attention...

But he was definitely paying attention now; she smelled like a cologne.

And he knew, for a fact, that it wasn't a cologne he was familiar with. It wasn't the cheap stuff McGee used, it wasn't the odd combination of scotch and tea from Ducky, it wasn't even the loaded on of Palmer. It wasn't the Old Spice, Bourbon, and wood shavings from Gibbs, but most importantly, it wasn't _his. _

And then, he couldn't help himself, "You smell different." He commented, softly and she stopped talking all together, clamping her mouth shut as she slowly turned to look at him.

It was a while until she finally found her words, "What?"

Tony continued anyways, "Were you with someone tonight?" He asked, his voice still soft. He tried to keep the jealousy out of his tone.

She looked down at his suitcase before looking back up at him, "No." She quickly said, "And what if I was?"

Tony laughed and put his hands up, shrugging, "I don't know. Some guy's getting lucky? I don't know." He repeated, "Uh..." He scratched the back of his head, "Can we...finish this?" he finally asked, wanting to get out of the awkward conversation.

"Yes." She nodded, glad that Tony found an out to that. She didn't really want to explain Grady to him.

The two slowly finished packing, Tony picking out the most ridiculous outfits imaginable.

At around 103h, Ziva had finally snapped at Tony to 'just go away and watch the television.'

Tony had sulked off and Ziva finally..._finally..._had some piece.

Who knew that it could take _so _long to pack a man some clothes for a five day trip?

Apparently Tony was impossible to pack for.

Or so, he made it seem that way.

Ziva, sighing, feeling like she accomplished running a marathon, zipped up Tony's suitcase and pulled her hair tie out of her hair, letting her straight locks tumble down. She ran a hand through it and tousled it slightly as she stifled a yawn.

Tony was dozing on the couch, the television set turned down nearly all the way, so low it might as well have been muted.

She reached over and grabbed the pillow out from under his head, smacking him with it. He groaned and grunted as he woke up, sitting up, "I am going home." She announced as she shuffled towards the door.

"You're..." He yawned as he lay back down, "Exhausted..." He yawned once more.

"So? I want to go home. You are all packed."

"Just stay here." He mumbled, putting the pillow back behind his head, closing his eyes once again.

"Then move." She demanded and he shook his head.

"Take my bed...I'm not moving. I'm comfortable." He shifted onto his side, so that his back was turned to her after he flicked off the television and the light.

Sighing, Ziva realized she had no choice, so she set her car keys down onto the coffee table in front of Tony before starting towards the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She straightened up a little, shoving the clothes back into the drawers before closing them. She removed the suitcase from the bed and then crawled under the covers, onto Tony's side of the bed. It was obvious which one that was, considering that it wasn't made up on one side and it was perfectly neat on the other.

Smiling, she crawled into bed and pulled the covers to her neck, the cool feeling soothing against her body as she reached over and turned off the light, the scent of Tony lulling her to sleep instantly as she imagined his strong arms around her.

_Bzzz...._

_Bzzzz....._

Tony groaned and turned away, trying to get the sound to go away.

_Bzzz..._

_Bzzz..._

"Damn it!" Tony shouted, reaching blindly for his phone. He groaned and flipped it open, not even bothering to read whoever was calling him, "DiNozzo."

_"DiNozzo..." _Gibbs' voice came through, "_Where the hell are you?" _

"Uh...at home?" He groggily asked, "We're on vacation, remember?" he yawned.

"_Yeah, I know. That's where there's some damn escort at my house demanding the whereabouts of you and David. Where are you two?" _He questioned...no...demanded.

"Oh, uh...Zi was helping me pack...she's right here, you wanna talk to her?" Tony didn't even realize the severity of his words until they came out of his mouth, "Oh...uh..."

_"Just get the hell down here. Both of you." _

"Right." Tony smiled, before hanging up the phone and all but throwing it back down onto the table, "Ziva!" He shouted as he laid his head back down onto the pillow, closing his eyes, "Gibbs is yellin' at us to get to his house. Apparently there's an escort?"

He heard a groan from the bedroom, "I am not dressed....I am not in proper social attire."

He groaned even louder, "Who cares? You still look sexy as hell, get up!" He shouted.

From the bed, Ziva smiled.

She got up.

* * *

Tony had to wait as Ziva picked up her stuff from her apartment (and wait for her to change her shirt) before they started back to Gibbs' house.

It was only then that he grinned as he parked in back of a limo, "Hey! Boss!" Tony shouted, getting out of the car as fast as he could, not only because he couldn't stand her driving anymore, leaving Ziva to carry the bags, as he snatched the keys out of the ignition, "We get a limo?" He questioned, running towards it like a little kid.

Ziva just rolled her eyes, "Tony!" She shouted from where she stood behind the car.

"Boss, it's _gorgeous..._" He walked around it, taking it in as he lightly ran his fingertips over it, "Last time I went for a ride in one of these was...college. Sometime. I don't really remember. I think I was drunk. Like I said, I don't remember..."

"Tony!" Ziva shouted again, but he didn't hear her.

"...but that might have been some other time, I don't know but-"

"TONY!" Ziva shouted and he stopped, looking at her.

"Yeah?"

"Do you _mind _unlocking the trunk?"

"Oh." He started towards her, sticking the key in and unlocking it, the trunk swinging upwards, "Sure thing." He grinned and she just rolled her eyes as she reached for the suitcases. Tony put his hands on top of hers and she felt a shiver run up and down her spine, "I got it." He smiled as he all but pushed her away, grabbing one suitcase in each hand.

He moved and placed them into the limo, where Gibbs was getting in, "Come on, we're already late. Vance wanted this limo back about two hours ago." Tony stepped out of the way so that Ziva could crawl in next to Abby, who was grinning and clapping her hands.

"Can't wait to get rid of us, huh?" Tony questioned.

"I know why they'd want to get rid of _you, _Tony, but not me." Tim smiled and Tony just rolled his eyes.

"Shut your mouth, McFlapper."

Tim just turned and looked out the window as Tony sat down next to Ziva, their thighs touching. They glanced at each other before looking forwards at Gibbs who just stared.

"This is _so, _exciting." Abby grinned, "We're getting a _limo!" _

Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes, "To the woods. That's like taking a space shuttle to the dump."


	2. Setting Up

"You're kidding, three hours?!" Tony whined as he sat down in the limousine.

"Stop complaining, Tony." Ziva said as she got in behind him, sitting on the same side as he did.

"Three hours?" He repeated, "To go camping? That's ridiculous. What am I supposed to do for three hours?"

"Be in pain if you don't stop complaining." Gibbs commented. He sat in the middle and pulled out his boat building magazine. McGee followed and Abby was the last one in, closing the door behind her.

"Yay!" She said happily, grabbing on to McGee, who was now sitting next to her, across from Tony and Ziva. "I'm so excited!"

Tony scoffed, sat back and crossed his arms, "Three hours."

Abby had a sour look on her face as she put her hands on her hips, "What?" She asked.

"Three hours!? There's woods behind my apartment! We can go there."

Abby rolled her eyes, "That would _not_ be a vacation."

Tony lifted and dropped one shoulder, "It would work for me." Ziva watched the exchange between them before pulling out her book and opening to the page where her bookmark was. The limo pulled out from Gibbs' driveway and started down the street. Tony leaned over and looked down at Ziva's book, "Whatcha reading?"

She used her eyes to glare at him and moved the book so that she could see it again, "A book."

Tony stared at her, "Obviously."

He leaned over again and she let out a exasperated sigh, "Tony!"

He grinned, "Whatcha reading?"

She groaned, "It is titled _The Hunt_." She spoke through her teeth, "Now do you mind?"

Tony sat up straight and smiled, snatching her book from her hands and studying it, "I can't read it."

She pinched the bridge of her nose, "That is because it is in Hebrew, DiNozzo." She held out her hand, "Give it back."

"What's it about?" He opened it, looking at the foreign language, trying to study the words.

"DiNozzo, give me the book." She said.

The pair now had an audience, for Abby and McGee were watching them. Gibbs didn't even look up from the magazine.

Truthfully, he didn't want to.

Tony grinned, "What are _you _going to do if I don't, Zee-Vah?" Ziva stared at his handsome face for several seconds before lunging at him, pinning his arms to the seat, her legs on either side of him. Tony yelped in pain.

"I will kill you with just one of the pages." She said, and leaned down closer to him, "Give it to me."

Their faces were only inches apart and their breathing was labored. Tony's mind raced. His eyes, like hers, were moving to her lips, and then back to her eyes.

Lips.

Eyes.

Lips.

Eyes.

He had to fight the smile that wanted to come on his face. Oh, how he _wanted _to give it to her.

He swallowed, "Sorry." She snatched it from him and climbed off, and he immediately missed the weight of her body on his. He sat up and fixed his shirt, chuckling nervously, "Could you really kill me with one book pages?"

"Would you like me to demonstrate?" She said.

He put his hands up and surrendered, "No, no, that's okay."

And then...it was quiet.

So quiet, in fact, that Ziva didn't realize that she was the only one awake until they hit a bump in the road. She closed her book, rubbed her eyes, and studied her surroundings. Her partner was currently sound asleep on her shoulder, a very soft snore escaping his lips. His arm was thrown loosely over her left leg, hanging in the middle of the isle.

Abby had both of her feet on the seat, snuggled up next to Tim, who slept with his arm propping up his head. Gibbs had his arms crossed, his head moving around with the movements of the limo.

Ziva let out a silent sigh and opened her book again, trying to concentrate on the words.

But she couldn't.

The intoxicating scent that was currently coming from her partner was too much for her to stand, and she slammed her book closed in frustration. He stirred slightly on her shoulder and moved his hand up so that it was on her thigh.

Chills surfaced her skin, her heart rate accelerated, and she let out a sigh, hoping that he wouldn't feel the pulse in her body.

Once her heart rate slowed to it's normal pace again, she rubbed her eyes with her finger and thumb. She opened her eyes and looked down at Tony's hair, that was currently tickling her neck. Not able to take the silence anymore, she shut her eyes, yawned, and fell into a sleep, her head now on top of Tony's.

Another hour passed and when the limo hit another bump in the road, Gibbs woke quickly and yawned, stretching his arms and legs. He looked around, studying each of his 'vacation team', as Abby named them.

As soon as his eyes moved to his senior field agent and his Mossad liaison officer, he narrowed them.

One thing was for sure.

They better not break rule twelve.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The rest of the ride was silent, for Gibbs was the only one awake. He watched Tony and Ziva as they slept, and memories of himself and Shannon consumed his thoughts.

"Gibbs?" Abby called, concerned that now, his hearing was getting bad, "Gibbs!" She said, a little louder, and it caused him to snap out of his trance. He looked at her, "You okay?"

He nodded, "Yeah, fine."

She grinned, "So how much longer until we get there?"

Gibbs shrugged one shoulder, "About half an hour, I suppose."

She jumped up and down in her seat in delight, clapping her hands quietly, "Isn't this exciting?"

"Nope."

Abby quickly lost her smile and put her hands on her hips, "Why not?" Gibbs replied by pointing to the two "lovebirds". Abby giggled and turned back to Gibbs, "Oh." She smiled again, "You can't help who you fall in love with, Gibbs." Her face became straight as she realized what she said, "I mean, not that they're in love or anything."

Gibbs smirked, "They better not be." Abby pulled McGee's gameboy from his hands and turned it on, needing something to do to pass the time. It was quiet until Gibbs spoke again, "Abs, do me a favor, will yah?" Abby nodded slowly, waiting on him to continue, "Keep an eye on them. Anything goes on, you let me know."

"You mean...babysit?"

Gibbs chuckled, "Technically, you're adult sitting."

"Gibbs, I don't want to spy on Tony and Ziva."

"Don't call it spying, call it...observing."

"Observing." Abby repeated.

"Uh huh."

"Aw Gibbs, but...look at them, they're so cute. Why can't we just...let nature take it's course?"

"Because, Abby." Gibbs said, just as the limo stopped at their location, "It's a rule." Ziva woke up suddenly at the stop of the vehicle, causing Tony to wake as well. He yawned and stretched, removing his hand from Ziva's thigh.

Tony looked over at his partner and smiled slightly, "You have a comfortable shoulder."

Ziva chuckled and followed him out of the limo, both of them stretching immediately. "Alright, grab a bag. We've got a long hike to the campsite."

"Aw boss, come on! Can't we drive?" Tony said, watching the silver haired man walk ahead, a bag on each of his shoulders.

"You can't drive through tree's, DiNozzo!" Gibbs yelled.

Tony groaned as Abby, McGee and Ziva walked past him, two bags on their shoulders. Tony looked down at the limo, but the trunk was now closed, the driver getting back into his seat. He sighed one more time, "Hey, wait up!" He yelled, taking long strides to catch up with his co-workers. Once he was next to Ziva, he pulled on one of the bags, "Here Zi, I'll carry these."

She held onto it tightly and looked at him, "I have got it."

He tugged on it again, "Come on, give me the bags."

"Let. Go." She said through her teeth. They were now stopped in the middle of the small trail, Abby and McGee passing them, smiles on both of their faces.

"Ziva, let me carry the bags."

"Why?" She questioned.

"Because I want to." She rolled her eyes and started to walk again when he grabbed her arm, "The bags."

"If you do not let me go I will kill you with the zipper."

Tony chuckled nervously, "You see, that's two 'I'll kill you' threats today."

"Do not get a third strike." Ziva said, and walked in front of him again, leaving him standing there.

Then Tony realized something.

He didn't have a bag.

He caught up with his partner again and poked her in the shoulder. "Give me the bags." Ziva didn't even look in his direction as she continued to walk, so he poked her in the shoulder again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

She stopped abruptly, "What?!" She yelled, her voice echoing in the woods.

Tony grinned, for his plan worked, "The bags."

She scoffed, rolled her eyes and took each of the bags off her shoulder, chucking them at him. Tony dodged them as they hit the ground behind him. "Thank you." He said, a smile on his face as he turned around, picking them up and catching up with her again. "I knew you'd give in."

"Only because you are possibly the most annoying creature on this earth."

Tony chuckled. "Maybe." He smiled at her, "But that's why you love me."

Ziva slowed in her steps, staring at him as he walked ahead of her.

Her mind raced.

Was she letting her guard down too much?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Finally!" Tony said as he finally caught up with Gibbs. Ziva was behind him, followed by McGee and Abby. "Wait, how'd you get that set up so fast?" Tony said, in reference to Gibbs' tent that was already standing. "We weren't _that_ far behind you, boss."

"I build a boat."

"Well, do you build tents as your third job?" His answer was a famous Gibbs' glare, and he quickly dropped the subject.

"Go ahead, set up your tents before it gets dark." Gibbs said, adding things to the fire pit he planned on starting later. Tony looked at his boss, down at his watch, and then back up at Jethro.

"Boss, it's only 1500h."

"It gets dark at 1800h, DiNozzo. And I imagine it's gonna take you a while."

"Please. I could do this with my eyes closed." He walked over to the left side of Gibbs' tent and pulled the supplies out of the bag. McGee and Abby went to the right side, doing the same. Ziva watched Tony for a few minutes and then walked over to him, a smile on her face.

"Would you like some help, Tony?"

Tony looked up at her, "Nope. I got it. I'll have it up in no time."

Ziva put her hands up in defense and walked away before she looked over her shoulder, "Let me know when you want me to set it up."

Tony scoffed, "I won't _need_ you to set it up."

About an hour passed and McGee, Abby, and Ziva watched Tony as he tried _again_ to set it up. Every time he'd get a side up, the other side would fall, and the the trio would laugh.

"Do you think he knows he's doing it wrong?" Ziva asked.

Tim laughed, "Tony _never _knows he's doing it wrong."

"Well, if he keeps trying it like that, you and Tony will have to sleep in the woods." She said, a smile on her face.

"I think I'd rather sleep in the woods then share a bed with Tony."

Abby laughed, "Maybe you won't have to." Sighing, McGee shoved his hands in his pockets and walked over to him, trying not to laugh as he spoke, "You uh...want some help, Tony?"

"Nope."

McGee smiled, "You know, Abby and I were done about 40 minutes ago."

"I don't care, McBrag."

"Why don't you let us help you, DiNozzo?"

"I don't need your help." Tony said.

McGee chuckled, "Ok." He walked back over to Ziva and Abby, "He doesn't _need_ my help."

"I'm going for a swim." Abby announced, earning strange looks from both Abby and Tim, "What?"

"The water's probably freezing, Abs." McGee said.

"No it's not." Gibbs clued in, "It's not very deep and the sun heats it up during the day."

McGee nodded slowly as Abby grinned, running over to the 'girls' tent, or, the one that was set up.

Ziva stood and watched her partner for another thirty minutes, and that's when she had enough. She walked over, placed her hands on his chest and gently pushed him, so that he wasn't in the way. "Let me." She said softly and began to set it up.

He stepped in front of her, "Ziva I can-"

He was silenced by her finger on his lips, "I will have this done in just a few minutes."

When she was done ten minutes later, she smiled at him, and walked to the lake, sitting down in front of it.

Tony followed her and sat down, and their hips were dangerously close to touching. He sighed, watching Abby swim around in the lake, "Nobody likes a show-off."

Ziva smiled, "I was only trying to help, Tony."

Tony nodded as response, "I know." He was quiet for a few seconds, "Toda."

She looked at him and chuckled softly, "You are welcome."

Ziva stayed at the lake for a couple more hours, Gibbs beckoning Tony back towards him to 'get his ass in gear and help set up a fire.' Ziva had chuckled a couple of times, almost in satisfaction as she heard the sound of fire and then Tony letting out a cry in pain, which normally was followed by a lengthy list of curse words.

And, after about another hour, Ziva decided to start back to the campsite. She now had on a sweatshirt that she had gotten out of her suitcase, which she had set down near the fire that Tony, McGee, and Abby were all starting to crowd around. Gibbs was the one making the fire, even though that didn't exactly surprise her. He threw in a log into the already burning fire, the flames erupting slightly upward, just some more. She pulled her hair back into a bun as Gibbs stopped placing wood into the fire pit and looked up at her.

"Good, I was just about to call you." Gibbs noted as she approached them, pulling at the sleeves of her sweatshirt, smiling as Abby plopped down happily in a lawn chair. McGee pulled one up next to her, Abby grinning widely at him. Gibbs was on the other side of the fire, turning hot dogs on a skewer over the pit of fire. Tony slouched in his chair, slightly provocatively, she might add, grinning his famous DiNozzo grin as he tapped the empty green chair next to him with his foot.

"Just for you, Zee-vah. It's even got your name on it." He moved the toe of his foot up to the note card that was taped on there with duck tape, Ziva's name written in Tony's messy script.

She rolled her eyes as she sat down next to him, Gibbs not speaking a word as he passed the plates around.

As she passed the plates to Tony, her hand brushed up against his and they shared a quick look and then looked away.

_Surely he did not feel that, yes? _She hurriedly thought.

_HAH, feel something, DiNozzo? For YOU of all people? HAH! _He thought, just as fast.

"So, what are we having, bossman?" Abby grinned, all but hopping up and down in her seat.

"Hot dogs and mustard." he glanced at Tony, "Or ketchup."

Tony grinned, "Love my to-may-toes."

"To-ma-toe." Ziva corrected, "It is pronounced To-ma-toe."

He grinned, happy that he found something, _something _to 'piss her off', "To-may-toe."

"To-ma-toe!" she shouted, getting slightly annoyed, "Tony, please!"

"I am the American here...I think I win...To-_may-_"

"You please shut up?" McGee interrupted and Tony turned and glared at him.

"Mind your own business, McVegetable!" He paused a moment, nodding his head slightly before turning back to Ziva, "Where were we?" She raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah...To-_may_-toe."

"To-ma-toe!"

"Eat your damn hot dogs or you won't have any toes." Gibbs growled, plopping down one on each of their plates. They both looked down at them and then back up at Jethro, who seemed to be burning with anger.

"Thanks, boss." Tony quickly said, watching him carefully as he went around and gave McGee and Abby their hot dogs.

"Why would I eat a hot dog?" Ziva suddenly asked, poking the wiener on her plate. She looked around and then up at Tony, "Is this really made of a dog?"

Tony, who was in mid-bite, finished what he was eating and then set his fork down, "Uh...yeah, Ziva...it's _really _made of dog." He rolled his eyes, trying to say it as sarcastically as possible.

She let her mouth drop open, "It is really dog?"

"NO!" Tony all but shouted, "You're eating a hot dog...but that would probably taste better than...say...a hot woman."

"Oh I am sure you would love to 'eat' them." She put up quotation marks around 'eat'. Gibbs threw his fork down, annoyed.

"I am _trying _to eat!" He shouted and the two quickly started eating their hot dogs, Ziva's persistent questions forgotten at the moment.

Ziva, who finished her hot dog quickly, looked at Tony, who was just...staring into the fire, his eyes mesmerized, as if he was a deer in the headlights.

"This...is a really bright fire." Tony grinned, tilting his head to the side, to get a different angle on it.

She rolled her eyes, "Tony, you are completely insane." She admitted.

Gibbs smirked and gave a small chuckle, "I don't think that was a mystery to anyone, Ziver."

Ziva smiled back at Gibbs before locking eyes with Abby, over the fire, who was grinning at the two of them, "What?" she demanded, but Tony didn't lose his concentration.

"Oh...nothing." From next to her, McGee rolled his eyes as he finished the last bite of his hot dog.

"Tony." Ziva demanded, "Stop staring into that fire!"

"Why Zee-vah? Wish I was staring into that fire burning in your eyes?" As much as Ziva was annoyed, she had to admit...that was rather deep, in a sense, even for Tony.

She sighed and huffed, sitting back in her chair, looking up over Tony's head and over at the lake, "It is a beautiful night." She admitted.

"Yup." Gibbs nodded, "Good night for sleeping, actually. Not too cold...not too hot."

"Just right." McGee agreed.

"Let's play a game!" Abby perked up and everyone rolled their eyes.

"_No, _Abby, we're not going to play a game." McGee sighed as something buzzed near his ear. He swatted it at, and it was apparently enough to get Tony's mind off of the fire, "Stupid bug." He muttered, slapping it away again, just to have it continue to come back. He stood up and started hopping away from it, swatting at it as he did so. Ziva watched her partner's face turn up into a large grin.

It slightly reminded her of the green man that wanted to 'steal Christmas', if that was even possible.

Tony had made her watch it with him a couple of winters ago.

"You need bug spray, McGoo?"

McGee abruptly stopped and stared at Tony, "Maybe..."

"I have some!" he stood up quickly and then all but jumped over Ziva as he made a bee line to his suitcase, which was in the same tent as Ziva's.

"Should I be scared?" McGee started, looking between his team members.

They shrugged their shoulders and all stared up at him, "Depends on how many pranks Tony already has planned."

Tony returned a couple of minutes later, a new bottle in his hand. He approached Tim and grinned, outstretching it towards him. He took it and stared at it, keeping it arms distance, in case it was going to explode or something, "What did you do to it?"

"Nothing!" Tony defended, "What makes you think I did anything?"

Sighing, McGee looked at Abby, almost helplessly, before spraying himself with the bug spray and then chucking it back at Tony, who caught it just as he was sitting down, "Touchdown." He grinned, glancing at Ziva before grinning even wider back at Tim.

Ziva knew that grin.

He had done something...she just didn't know what.

But she had a good hunch...whatever was in that bottle McGee sprayed was either going to make his skin literally crawl off, give him hives, attract more insects, or make him smell.

Rolling her eyes, she decided not to wait for whatever was going to happen to McGee to happen, "So are we done?" She asked, sighing as she looked at Gibbs, resting her elbows on her knees.

Gibbs stared at her before nodding, "Yup." He went to stand up when he was stopped by Abby standing so abruptly her chair almost fell down.

"No!" She shouted and Gibbs stopped, turning and looking at the forensic scientist. He just continued to stare at her with a look that clearly said 'well, you gonna continue or just stand there?' "Smores!" She grinned, "I have all of the stuff in my bag!" She hurried towards her suitcase, near the other tent as Gibbs let out a sigh and sat down in his seat again, reaching down and throwing a couple more logs into the fire.

Tony could tell that Gibbs was definitely going to enjoy this part of the trip...even if it wasn't equivalent to building his boat.

Tony opened his mouth to say something when Abby came bounding back over to them, chocolate bars, marshmallows, and graham crackers in her hands. She kept the same grin on her face as she approached them, holding the items up as if they didn't know what they were, "Smores!" She repeated.

"What is a...smore?" Ziva questioned, furrowing her eyebrows together and looking at Tony for an explanation. He just let his mouth drop slightly open.

"Are you serious? You've been in America how long?"

"Four years." She smiled.

"And you have _never _heard of a smore?"

She shook her head, "No. Why?"

Tony sighed and drooped his head, closing his eyes and shaking it slightly before looking back up at her, "It's really simple, Ziva, I'll show you."

"You will show me a smore?"

"No, I'll show you how to _make _a smore. You'll love them, trust me." He looked up at Abby, "Hey, can I have some of that?"

She smiled as she stuck her own marshmallow on a stick, handing another one to Tony as well as the bag and a piece of a chocolate bar as well as two crackers. As he put the marshmallow onto the stick, he placed it over the fire, "See, you place the marshmallow over the fire." he explained, "And keep turning it until it's golden brown...you don't want it burnt."

"Why not?"

"Uh..." he paused, "Cause food isn't meant to be burnt? I mean, I know that you think that you should set it on fire all the time but..." He noticed her stare and stopped immediately.

Abby spoke up, "Hey, Ziva makes _awesome _food."

McGee nodded, "Yeah." He agreed, his mouth full of a smore.

"Can it, McMarshmallow." he turned back to Ziva, "So anyways," He continued to turn the marshmallow on the stick, "So you wait until it's golden brown, like a cookie, and then you take a cracker..." He picked one up, and then put the hot marshmallow onto the cracker..." He pulled it carefully off of the stick, "And then put on the chocolate, place the other cracker on top, and then voila!" he held up the gooey creation, "Smore."

He offered it to her, but she declined, "No, I would rather make my own." She commented, taking the stick from Tony's hands and placing a new marshmallow on it, sticking it over the fire as Gibbs just ate the graham crackers by themselves.

Ziva waited for the marshmallow to turn golden brown all around, like Tony had instructed.

"Now put it on a cracker."

Ziva stared down at the marshmallow as she pulled it off and then looked at Tony. He just stared at her, "Put it on a cracker." He repeated and she smiled.

"On a cracker?"

"Yeah, Ziva...a cracker."

She smiled, "A cracker?"

"Yes!"

"Well if you say so..."

Tony didn't have time to respond, for his face was being shoved with a hot marshmallow. He let his mouth dangle open as he wiped his eyes, blinking, trying to get the marshmallow off of his face as Ziva laughed.

"She definitely put it on a cracker all right." McGee laughed and Tony, even through the marshmallow, turned and glared at McGee.

Ziva laughed, and even Gibbs let a small smirk dance on his lips. Ziva let a hand up to her mouth as she leaned back in her seat slightly. And it was then, that Tony had had enough.

"Time for the tables to turn, David." He muttered as he quickly stood up and picked her up, taking her by surprise as he threw her over his shoulder. She let out a small groan as she bounced on his shoulder. It took her a moment or two longer before she realized what was happening.

"Tony!" she shouted, kicking her legs, but he kept them stable with his arms, "Tony DiNozzo, put me down!"

"You shouldn't have shoved a marshmallow in my face."

The three back at the fire and turned and looked at them, Gibbs sighing and shaking his head as Tony started to pick up his pace, making it into an almost full out run. Ziva, briefly, wondered how much he had been working out, "Tony, what are you doing?" She demanded, "Tony!"

He stopped abruptly and was about to throw her into the water when he realized something.

He just _couldn't. _

But since she was halfway off of his shoulder already, he lost his balance and they both fell down onto the ground, Ziva falling onto the sand whereas Tony fell half on top of her and half in the lake. Groaning, it took his a little while to finally be able to sit up, Ziva's arm under his head.

"Get off of me, Tony." She finally breathed, staring up at the sky as he sat himself up a little, staring into her eyes.

"Ziva..."

"Tony, do not..." She met his eyes through the night and shook her head, "Do not." She repeated.

"Sorry." he muttered, breathing in her delicious scent of vanilla and sugar, partly from the marshmallow he supposed, and then stood up, groaning in the process. He reached a hand down to her and they linked them as he pulled her up with one smooth move.

She brushed herself off, glancing at Tony as he turned towards the lake, splashing water up onto his face in an attempt to get the marshmallow substance off of it.

Ziva sighed and then started back towards the group, sitting down in her seat. She watched Tony as a small, awkward silence fell between them.

Tony returned moments later, his face nearly completely clean, just a couple other spots as he too took his seat.

"I am ready to go to bed." Ziva commented, "Right after I wash up, of course."

Abby grinned, "Oh yeah! Sleeping!" She smiled.

"What is so awesome about sleeping?" Ziva questioned.

"What _isn't _awesome about sleeping?" Tony laughed and Ziva just looked at him as Abby continued.

"So Gibbs gets the middle tent." She pointed towards it, "Timmy and I get this tent-" She pointed towards the one on her right, "And Tony and Ziva get the last one!" she grinned, clapping happily as she pointed to the one to the left of Gibbs' tent.

Tony and Ziva looked at each other before Gibbs stood up, "Remember why I created my rules." He muttered before disappearing into his tent, where they assumed he would retire for the night.

Ziva stood next and looked at her new tent, "I will go and wash up. Goodnight, Abby, McGee, thank you for dinner." she nodded, smiling with her lips closed before retreating from the group.

Abby and McGee bid Tony goodnight as Abby collected the food, leaving Tony alone to ponder his thoughts.

He looked at Ziva's...excuse him...his and Ziva's tent and then at the fire that was dying out.

He watched the colors burn as he realized something.

He had to be careful...the two of them would be in a confined space...sleeping together...at night.

He ran a hand through his hair as he continued his stare at the fire.

Maybe he just wouldn't sleep.

* * *

Tony eventually moved from his spot in front of the fire, namely after two events, one of them being when the fire started to die down and the other being when Ziva came out of the tent, snatched the clothes out of her suitcase, and promptly told him to get out, for she was going to get cleaned up.

"Okay." Tony nodded, not really feeling like arguing with her again.

In her hands were shampoo, conditioner, soap, a towel, and, of course, her clothes she had just grabbed from out of her suitcase. Tony watched her form retreat towards the lake as he stood up, shoving his hands into his pockets.

He took in a sigh before staring down at the suitcase that was at his feet. He looked back at the tent and then went to pick it up when the entire contents of it spilled in front of him.

"Ugh." Tony groaned, reaching down and shoving her clothes and other items back into the suitcase, his eyes catching something in particular.

He picked it up and examined it, smiling slightly.

A camera.

He looked up at Ziva, who was just staring at him, as if waiting for him to leave her alone. He put his hands up, "Your suitcase just exploded like Mt. Saint Helens." He explained, "I'm just putting everything back in!"

Rolling his eyes, he shoved everything else back in before standing up and zipping the suitcase up, shoving the camera into his pocket.

He walked to the tent, making sure the stupid suitcase wouldn't do that again, because picking up Ziva's...personal items...was a little more than he wanted to take.

Ziva watched as Tony went into the tent, and waited for several seconds until she was sure that Tony wasn't going to come back out. When he didn't, she pulled her shirt and bra over her head, and stripped her pants and underwear just as quickly before diving into the lake.

Surprisingly, the water was actually warm, and Ziva smiled contently.

It was just what she needed.

Swimming back over to the edge, she grabbed the shampoo and squirted a generous amount into her hand, rubbing them together before putting the substance in hair.

In Tony's head, he knew this was wrong, and that it would probably come back to bite him one day, either from Ziva or Gibbs, but he honestly didn't care.

He need some fresh, new pictures of Ziva to look at. Not that the famous bikini ones were going out of style or anything, but he just wanted new ones to look at.

Quietly, carefully, he stepped out of the tent and quickly went behind one of the nearby trees, careful not to make a sound, because he was sure that Ziva's bionic hearing would hear even a stick breaking.

When he heard the water move again, he pulled the camera out of his pocket and turned it on, making sure the flash was off before aiming at his target. Currently, she had her head back, letting the shampoo run out of her hair before going under and getting it soaking wet again.

Tony had to hold back a whimper as he watched her repeat the process, snapping many pictures as she did so.

When she was satisfied that all of the shampoo was out of her hair, she moved over to the edge again and collected her pouf and body wash.

"This is torture." Tony said to himself. Nevertheless, he continued to take pictures, not taking his eyes off her body for a single second. He bit his bottom lip as she washed, rubbing the pouf against her olive skin, and then going under water to rinse.

If Tony wasn't in his right mind, he'd throw the camera and his clothes and run into the lake and make her his.

Tony scoffed at himself, for he was taking pictures of his naked Mossad trained-assassin-killer-ninja-bionic hearing partner.

Maybe he _wasn't_ in his right mind.

"Good grief." He mumbled as she reached for her towel, walking out of the water as she wrapped it around her. Taking a bunch of deep breaths in effort to calm himself down, he turned off the digital camera and opened the small flap, pulling the memory chip out and sticking it in his other pocket.

Since her back was turned, he slipped into the tent without making a sound, and, much to his relief, without being noticed. "Jesus, Anthony." He said, his breathing still heavy.

Did she have any idea what she did to him?

It wasn't fair.

Once his breathing was almost back to normal, he sat up and reached in his pocket to get her camera and put it back before she realized that it was missing. Zipping it back up, he reached into his other pocket for the memory card, so that he could put it in _his_ suitcase for later processing.

That's when his eyes grew big.

It wasn't in there.

And then he remembered, he had on the jeans that had a hole in the pocket.

"Damn it!" He said, rather loudly, and stood quickly from the air mattress, exiting the tent.

"Tony!" Ziva shouted, for she was still in just a towel. Tony looked at her and gulped.

"I'm sorry, Ziva." He said softly, so he wouldn't wake the others, "I dropped something out here."

She groaned, "Hurry up!"

He walked back over to where he hid behind the tree like a 12-year-old, and crouched down, moving the leaves and pine straw back and fourth, looking for the small, plastic object. He found it and stood, but about jumped out of his skin when he saw her standing beside him, _still_ in just a towel. "What did you drop?" She asked softly.

Tony gulped. He had to force himself to look into her brown eyes, and not at the rest of her body, "Uh..." He said, "My gum."

Ziva furrowed her eyebrows together, "You dropped your gum?" She repeated.

He chuckled nervously, "Yeah, and I uh...had a dry mouth in the tent and wanted a piece. Must've lost it when I was setting up earlier." He smiled, for he was proud of his lie.

Ziva nodded slowly, "Fine. May I have a piece?" She asked.

Tony quickly started making a chewing motion with his mouth, and then he pointed to it, "Sorry Zi, last piece." He started to walk around her, but his shoulder hit hers and almost knocked her over, so he grabbed her, one hand on her shoulder and the other on her hip, in an effort to steady her. "I'm...sorry." He breathed.

Only one thin layer of a towel was preventing her from being completely naked. She stood to her full height and smiled, patting him on the shoulder, "It is okay." She said.

Tony stared into her chocolate eyes for several long seconds before nodding slightly and hurrying into the tent, the memory chip clutched in his hand.

He swallowed again.

And he had 5 days of this?

He was never going to make it.

* * *

Inside of the tent, the night had fallen, the moon shining down and trying to penetrate the walls of their small shelter.

It was barely big enough for the two of them, Ziva's sleeping bag up against one side of the tent and Tony's up against the other. Even when they were shoved up against the sides of the tent, they were _still _touching each other. They both had their backs turned to each other, the smalls of their backs against their partners.

Tony took in a deep breath and tried to keep himself calm.

Ziva was lightly snoring, which was better than normal, and her breathing was smooth and...relaxing.

But he couldn't sleep.

Not after seeing _her _in that...little amount of clothing.

If you would even call that 'clothing'.

Tony took in another deep breath as he glanced down at his watch.

0230h.

Tony listened to the sounds outside, the crickets rubbing their wings together as well as the faint rustling of the light wind in the bushes outside. The ground was hard under his body and he groaned slightly. He didn't like this one bit.

He listened to the sounds again, until he noticed something...there wasn't a sound there that was _previously _there.

He had to try to wipe the smile that was threatening to form on his face off, "I hate camping." He said.

She groaned from next to him, "You have told me that-" She moved in her covers, the sides of the sleeping bag making sounds as it rubbed up against itself, "-at least ten times tonight." She groaned, trying to get herself more comfortable.

Tony grinned, "Actually it was more like eleven."

"You would count." She muttered under her breath.

"I did."

"I noticed. Now go to sleep." She groaned.

"I can't."

"Why?" she let out her loudest groan into the pillow, muffling it just slightly.

He paused for a moment, trying to rack his brain for something, "Bears." He suddenly said and Ziva turned abruptly towards him.

"Bears?" She demanded, raising one eyebrow up.

He looked at her through the darkness and nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, bears."

She stared at him for a couple of more seconds, her damp hair cascading down one shoulder, the two-sizes-too-big shirt looking incredible on her body, the moonlight tracing the features on her face, "That is why you sleep with a gun." She responded, promptly, quickly, before laying back down in bed, face down this time, her head turned slightly to the side.

"Why do I need to when I'm sleeping with an assassin?" He grinned, but then realized what he said just as the words slipped out of his mouth. He shut it quickly, and she didn't say anything. He shifted his position to his back as he stared up at the vinyl of the tent cover, the moonlight shining through, "Hey, Ziva?" He questioned after a couple minutes of silence. When she didn't respond, he carefully reached a hand over and shook her leg, "Hey, Zi-" He started, but then stopped, for he suddenly had a gun placed to his head, Ziva hanging over top of him.

"There are more than one reasons I sleep with a gun." She whispered, her voice sweet and velvety, but deadly at the same time.

He gulped, on instinct, "Got it."

"Now shut up and go to sleep." She muttered, shoving her gun back under the pillow and then laying back down, this time on her back. Tony listened to her fall asleep once again, the only sign that she was truly asleep the light snoring she picked up.

Tony knew not to even bother to try to go to sleep, considering he was never going to.

And it wasn't because he was afraid of bears.

In fact, he was far from afraid of bears.

It was the fact that Ziva David, his partner, the one he just took sneaky naked photos of like he was a young boy taking pictures of his sister's friend in shower when she slept over, was laying next to him. So closely in fact, that she could turn and her body would almost be fully on top of his.

And he honestly didn't know how he was going to control himself of something like that happened.

He turned his head to the right and looked at her, her brown curls sparkling in the moonlight, like she the goddess she truly was.

He really _really_ desperately wanted to reach over and play with her brown locks, but he knew that that wouldn't necessarily be a good idea.

He knew that that gun he had just had shoved at his temple was fully loaded.

And he didn't want that to happen again.

He heard her moan slightly, and he briefly wondered what she was dreaming about.

Sex?

He let a smile grow on his face, but then let it fall when he realized that, unlike him, when she thought about sex, she didn't think about them together.

Ripping off clothes.

Shoving her onto the bed.

And then proceeding to make passionate, monstrous love deep into the night.

So what _was _she dreaming about then? He surely didn't want her to be dreaming about sex if it wasn't about _him. _Selfish, he knew, but he felt like he had a...possession of her. Like she was his and no one else.

Was she dreaming about pain?

He surely hoped not.

Though, he didn't know which one was worse...a sex dream that wasn't about him...or _pain. _

All thoughts, however, left his head as he suddenly felt her arm around him, drawing him closer to her. She rested her head on his chest and nuzzled her face into his neck, moaning contently.

He could literally feel his _sweat _pants tighten as he looked down at her, her right foot brushing up against the inside of his leg. His breath stiffened as he breathed her in, staring at her in complete shock. His heart was literally jumping out of his chest; that was the only way to describe it.

She just smelled so _damn good. _

Carefully, he ran a hand up her back, feeling soft, olive toned skin there from where her shirt had ridden up instead. He rested his palm lightly on her hip after tracing her back with his fingertips. She let out a small moan and he watched one side of her face turn up in a smile as she hugged him tighter to her.

He stared like a deer caught in the headlights up at the ceiling of the tent, taking in a deep breath, but then realizing that that was a bad idea, considering her just breathed _her _in.

And as he stared at the ceiling of the tent, Ziva's body strewn across his, smelling so incredible, he realized one thing.

He'd _really _not be getting any sleep tonight.


End file.
